San shao ye de jian

Rundong He's performance is surprisingly the best in this embarrassing movie. I am even shocked by the unreasonable and confusing character Yeqing Zhu who is asking "Do you love me?" all the time. The most confusing scene is that villagers blamed Yan Shisan for not teaching them Kungfu after he just saved all of them. What's even more unacceptable is that Shisan Yan forced into the town and killed all people near the bad boss and screaming "I will never be a selfish man!" Although many details in this movie cannot be explained ideally, the relationship between Shisan Yan and Xiaofeng Xie really moved me a lot. Two respectable swordsmen pitied each other's talent and spirit.

Sword Master is a typical example for the new wave of wu xia cinema. The costumes are colourful, the landscapes are breathtaking and the fight sequences are quite spectacular on the positive side. On the negative side, the special effects are exaggerated and overused, the story is developed in a confusing way with numerous flashbacks to hide the fact that the scenario is rather ordinary and the movie doesn't have the magic pioneer vibe of the original version called Death Duel in particular and the first wave of wu xia movies in general.

There are three elements that make Sword Master stand out and put it on a slightly above average level if compared to other contemporary wu xia flicks. The first twenty minutes of the movie are quite entertaining and feature interesting character developments, ferocious fights and stunning settings. The movie then quickly becomes exchangeable, predictable and shallow but its first impression is very positive. As a second element, the acting performances are rather positive even though they aren't outstanding or even moving. The different characters are credible and the actors and actresses rarely overact. Aside of one silly character who only has a minor role, the movie also avoids adding silly slapstick elements that wouldn't fit in. Finally, the movie has a great soundtrack that unites traditional folk instruments, classical music and a few modern sounds in a highly diversified and always appropriate way. The soundtrack manages to add more emotions to the different key scenes of this film.

Fans of traditional Chinese action cinema will surely be entertained by this movie even though it can't compete with the best genre flicks of the seventies and eighties. Those who aren't familiar with the wu xia genre should not start with this film though and discover the original films first. I was entertained very well and would watch this movie again in a few years.

Hong Kong powerhouses Derek Yee and Tsui Hark team up to bring this lavish, beautifully made production to the fans. A loose remake of 1977's fantastic Death Duel which starred Derek Yee in the lead role - both of which are a take on the novel by Gu Long, this update was made for the 3D market although still highly impresses when watched as normal.

While a little confusing in the long-run, of which I put down to its main leads Kenny Lin and Peter Ho looking too much alike as well as its interconnecting flashbacks, the film does entertain enough to keep you watching - finally ironing itself out in the later half.

With incredible sets and locations (some of which are CGI enhanced), beautiful costumes and non-stop swordplay/wire-fu action, Swordmaster is a stunningly polished version of films such as Zu Warriors; Swordsman 2; Moon Warriors; Bride With White Hair and many more - and to me, falls very easily alongside those classics as one of the best in its genre.

Kenny Lin (Taking of Tiger Mountain; The Great Wall) strangely enough reminds me of Kenny Ho (Red Wolf; Project A 2) and impresses as the lead of the film, hiding in a brothel and neighbouring village as Useless Chi, avoiding the troubles and nightmares that plague him from his earlier days with his father and cult leader Hsieh, played by the wonderful Norman Tsui Siu Keung.

Peter Ho as the tattooed face assassin Yen Shi San is just brilliant, with his opening scene on the snowy bridge setting the pace for the rest of the film and taking part in the most of the films major action scenes wonderfully choreographed by the fantastic Yuen Bun and Dion Lam.

With plenty of great characters and performances, there is hardly a slow moment throughout the whole film, with every shot beautifully framed and captured, it just keeps your eyes glued to the screen for its full running time. Swordmaster may suffer from a few minor CG flaws as well as the aforementioned story telling at the beginning, but its a damn near perfect wu xia film and one I have enjoyed re-watching time and time again...

Overall: A stunningly action-packed revisit to HK's golden years in style, Swordsman is highly recommended!

Bad cast, pretentious dialog, childish scenarios, one-way predictable boring storyline....only the village settings looked pretty good, so-so CGI special effect which sometimes looked quite unreal and fake. There's nothing more to comment. Just another deadbeat Chinese Hong Kong shallow production.

Excellent movie, would definitely recommend, great story too.